Miramichi

Miramichi, city, Northumberland county, eastern New Brunswick, Canada. It lies near the mouth of the Miramichi River, 84 miles (135 km) north-northwest of Moncton. Formed in 1995 as an amalgamation of the towns of Newcastle (historical seat of Northumberland county, 1786) and Chatham (1800), the city is now one of the largest in the province. The city’s name revives that of the earliest English settlement, before Newcastle and Chatham assumed the names of British statesmen William Pitt (earl of Chatham) and Thomas Pelham-Holles (duke of Newcastle). First settled to exploit the salmon fishery, both towns developed with the lumber and allied trades and, in the age of wooden ships, were major shipbuilders. In the 1830s Joseph Cunard used Chatham shipyards to build many of the large ships that carried lumber across the Atlantic to Europe. The city today is an industrial and commercial centre still focused on the forest industry. It also is a port of entry, manufactures pulp and paper, and ships lumber. The city is near numerous salmon sport fisheries, found along the several branches of the Miramichi River. Newcastle was largely destroyed in the great Miramichi fire of 1825, and its reconstruction featured houses and public buildings designed by Scottish builder and architect William Murray. Among his structures, several churches, the old courthouse, and several fine homes remain. Newcastle’s most famous son, Lord Beaverbrook (Maxwell Aitken)—publisher, financier, and member of Winston Churchill’s wartime cabinet—is buried in the town square near the town hall and civic centre that he gave to the community. Beaverbrook’s boyhood home is now a cultural centre. Pop. (2006) 18,129; (2011) 17,811.